Jace Herondale
This article uses material from the "Jace Herondale" article on the Shadowhunters wiki at FANDOM and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License. 'Jonathan "Jace" Christopher Lightwood Herondale '''is considered one of the best Shadowhunters of his generation and a hero of the Mortal and Dark Wars. He is currently the co-head of the New York Institute along with his wife, Clary. He is the father of Emmy, Stevie, Ella, Liam, Toby, Ava, Jonah, Rosemary, Owen, Adele, and Amelia. He is also the ''parabatai ''of Alec Lightwood, and is the adoptive brother of Isabelle and Alec Lightwood. Biography Early Life Jace was born to Stephen and Céline Herondale. While he was still in Céline's womb, Valentine Morgenstern constantly gave Céline doses of Ithuriel's blood to mix with her food, and she took it, not knowing what it really was. Ithuriel's blood made its way into unborn baby Jace's system, thus he was born differently from other Shadowhunters. Eventually, Valentine had his parents killed. Desperate for the baby he had been giving angel blood to, Valentine had Hodge Starkweather help him take the child from Céline's dead body shortly after—it is said that the only reason that Jace survived was because of the increased amount of angel blood in his body. After faking his and his real son's death, Valentine took off with both Jonathan and Jace and raised them separately, hoping that one or both of them would grow to become very powerful warriors—one with angel blood and the other with demon. While Valentine took the identity of Michael Wayland, Jace was raised as Jonathan Wayland, both of whom were in fact the father-and-son Valentine killed to fake their deaths. Jace was raised by Valentine believing that they were the Waylands, and they lived in the Waylands' estate. Jace's upbringing was both loving and harsh; Valentine trained him like a warrior, strictly and with the occasional beating, but also treated him with some level of kindness. Valentine also insisted that Jace learn to play an instrument, and he taught him the piano. Jace was also taught other languages by Valentine. Despite the extremely disciplined upbringing, they shared some father-son moments and lessons that Jace cherished. Growing up, Jace always looked forward to his birthday because it was when Valentine always let Jace do or have what he wanted: horses, weapons, books, and even a bath in spaghetti on his fifth birthday. Valentine instilled thoughts such as "to love is to destroy and that to be loved is to be the one destroyed" into his mind. In an attempt to teach him this, Valentine gave him a wild falcon to train when he was six, intending it to be a killing companion. After some struggle and a long time, Jace tamed the seemingly bird that had initially seemed impossible to train and loved it. Jace excitedly showed it to his father, but Valentine broke its neck, saying that he was supposed to train it to become obedient, not to love him. When he was ten, Valentine realized that Jace was too soft for his plans but needed to move forward with his plans. For this, Valentine yet again staged his death as Michael Wayland, with a hiding Jace there to witness his father "killed" right in front of him, convincing Jace and everyone else of "Michael's" death. As he had anticipated when he took Michael's identity, Jace was adopted by the Lightwoods, where Valentine knew Jace would be well cared for, as well as in a good position for possible reconnaissance at a later time. Though it took some time for the three of them to warm up to each other, Jace became good friends with the Lightwood children, Alec and Isabelle Lightwood. The eldest, Alec, eventually became his ''parabatai. The youngest, Max, grew to look up to Jace. The family matriarch Maryse also gave him his nickname Jace, after he told them that his full name was Jonathan Christopher, which he had seen in Valentine's journal, not knowing that it wasn't referring to him. Valentine's Return Jace would spend the next seven years forming a solid bond with the Lightwoods and was treated much like a true son by Maryse and Robert. In particular, he, Alec, and Isabelle made a formidable Shadowhunting team. One fateful night in August 2007, the trio went scouting at the Pandemonium Club. They had lured a demon into a closet and were about to kill it when they were interrupted by a girl, Clary Fray, that Alec had assumed was a mundane girl. They slipped away shortly after, but Jace remained intrigued and told Hodge about her. When Hodge asked to see the girl, Jace volunteered to go. Jace followed her to Java Jones the next evening, and when she confronted him, he told her about Shadowhunters and told her that he doubted that she was ordinary. Clary then received a call from her mother, and when Clary returned home that night, her mother had already been taken. Clary was then poisoned by a Ravener demon, forcing Jace to test his theory by giving her a rune—an iratze. Coinciding with the disappearance of Clary's mother, Jocelyn, were the rumors that Valentine Morgenstern, whom Jace was unaware was also Clary's father, had returned from the dead. The Conclave then decided to take Clary in and help her look for her mother, hoping it will lead them to the truth about Valentine. While Izzy and Alec were both skeptical about helping the stranger, Hodge was insistent about helping an old friend, and Jace found himself strangely compelled to help their guest, though he denied this. During their adventures, Jace met Madame Dorothea, who they later killed while possessed by the Greater Demon Abbadon, werewolf and former Shadowhunter Luke Garroway, High Warlock of Brooklyn, Magnus Bane, the New York vampire clan and its acting head Raphael Santiago, and, to Jace's dismay, Clary's mundane best friend Simon Lewis. Jace and Clary initially did not think much of one another, with Clary thinking he was an arrogant rich boy. Eventually though, Jace and Clary began to care for one another. One evening, when he found out that Clary's birthday was upon them, Jace invited Clary to join him in the Institute's greenhouse. They bonded over stories that Jace told about his childhood and soon shared a passionate kiss. They left and Jace walked Clary to her room, only to find Simon waiting inside. When Simon assumed that they were there for another reason, Clary tried to explain herself. Jace was offended at, as he saw it as Clary dismissing their feelings and shrugged her off when she tried to apologize. Despite this, Jace still continued to help Clary. At one point, when Alec was gravely injured during their encounter with the demon Abbadon, Jace went to a dark place and began to blame himself. Eventually, when Clary was finally able to retrieve the Mortal Cup, Hodge's betrayal was revealed. Jace was knocked out by Hodge, leaving a helpless Clary to watch, trapped in an invisible casing. With Jace's ring, Hodge contacted Valentine Morgenstern. In exchange for his release from his curse, Hodge gave Valentine the Cup and Jace. During their time together at Renwick's, Jace realized that Valentine was the man who, as Michael Wayland, raised him. Suddenly keen on reuniting with his father, Jace momentarily decided to side with Valentine. Upon Clary's arrival, Valentine revealed to Jace that they were siblings, which he refused to believe. Luke soon followed after Clary and began to tell Jace about Valentine and Jocelyn's past, facts which Clary later reinforced. During the confrontation, Jace began to doubt his decision as he learned more about his "father". While Valentine fought Luke, he saw the kind of man he was. With Clary's urging, Jace finally turned against him. Truly believing Valentine's lies, Jace was lead to believe that he was the brother of the girl he had fallen in love with. Heartbroken, Jace reverted to old ways, keeping his distance from those he cared about. Wandering Jace Jace was thrown out from the Institute after Maryse found out the truth about his real father. Then Jace went to the Hunter's Moon bar where Luke's werewolf pack were and started a fight with them because of his indifference when the pack informed him about the curious death of one its younger members and his intentional aggravation of the pack. Luke managed to stop the fight and called Clary to come. Jace told them that he had been thrown out of the Institute and he didn't know why. Luke, Clary and Jace went the Institute to question Maryse Lightwood on her decision to do this. She told them that the Inquisitor was coming to talk to him about him being Valentine's son and that she was trying to protect Jace. Nonetheless, Jace decided to stay and face the Inquisitor, believing that by avoiding her things would become worse. Later on, due to his disrespectful behavior towards the Inquisitor, Imogen Herondale, he was forced into jail in the Silent City. While in the cell, Jace suddenly heard the screams of the Silent Brothers which were caused by Agramon who was now under Valentine's command. After the slaughter of the Silent Brothers, Valentine visited Jace and told him that he had to kill them to get the Mortal Sword. Meanwhile, Clary, Isabelle, and Alec decided to go and rescue Jace after receiving a distress call from the Silent City. The Inquisitor believed that Jace helped Valentine kill the Silent Brothers in order to get the Mortal Sword, however, now that the Sword was gone, they didn't know whether Jace was innocent or not. After a lot of debate, they finally agreed to let Jace stay in Magnus Bane's apartment, under the condition that a magical restraint is placed on him. Later on, due to the unexplained and mysterious deaths of different Downworlders, Jace and the others visited the Faerie Realm. While there, Clary was tricked into eating faerie food, meaning that she wouldn't be able to leave along with the others. However, the Seelie Queen told her that if she got the kiss that she most desired, she would be able to leave. When Simon's kiss failed to free Clary, Jace kissed her and successfully broke the spell, which angered Simon, thus making him leave the group at Central Park. After their return to the Institute, Clary and Jace fought about their feelings for each other. Jace said he didn't see why they couldn't still be together and wanted to keep the relationship a secret, while Clary said that the idea repulsed her and that their feelings for each other were wrong. Meanwhile, Raphael Santiago visited them with Simon's corpse in his hands, informing them about Simon's inevitable turning into a vampire or death. The team decided to bury Simon in a Jewish cemetery for his resurrection as a vampire. Upon learning about Maia's disappearance and Valentine's plan to turn the Mortal Sword into a demon instrument, Jace visited his father, who was currently hiding on a boat. When he returned from his visit, the Inquisitor, having used a tracker on him, kept him prisoner in a Malachi Configuration. She then proceeded to tell him about her plan to threaten Valentine in order to get the Mortal Instruments by using Jace's life. Jace tried to tell her that it would not work but she didn't believe him. Later with some help from Alec, he managed to escape. Before facing off Valentine and trying to save both Maia and Simon, who was meanwhile captured for the ritual, on his boat, Jace asked Clary to draw the Fearless rune on him. While on board of the ship, Jace found Simon dead and fed him his blood in order to save him. The rest of the Shadowhunters soon arrived and a chaotic battle began on the boat. During the battle, Jace was confronted by Imogen, who apologized and looked really astonished when Jace told her once more that he did not know Valentine was his father. Imogen then noticed his star-shaped scar and tried to tell him something but Jace, angered by the Inquisitor's behavior, left to join the battle. He was then attacked by a demon that could have gotten to him had the Inquisitor not interfered, saving him. The Inquisitor died in his arms, having realize that he was her grandson. Imogen noted that Jace's father would be proud", leaving Jace more confused than before, thinking that Imogen had insulted him, referring to Valentine. Soon afterwards the battle ended with the ship being completely destroyed by Clary's Opening rune. Later, Jace told Clary that he would, from now on, act like her brother and nothing more. The Mortal War After being called to Alicante, Jace was making preparations in order to leave with the rest of his family to Idris, alongside Clary. However, Jace believing that Idris was too dangerous for Clary and at the same time wanting to stop thinking about her, decided to trick Clary with the help of Simon. Simon reluctantly agreed but when the Lightwoods were ready to leave through a Portal, they were attacked by a group of Forsaken. And midst the chaos created, Jace was forced to take Simon with him, something which was illegal since a permission was required to enter Idris. While at Idris, Jace spent a lot of time with Aline Penhallow and her cousin Sebastian Verlac. But his peace was soon interrupted when Clary appeared. Jace afraid of his feelings for her distanced himself and even blamed her. Thus, allowing Sebastian to come closer to Clary. Nevertheless, upon the discovery of the fact that the Book of the White was hidden inside the library in the Wayland manor, Clary asked Jace to help her. Jace agreed and they went together. There they discovered the Angel Ithuriel trapped in the basement, Clary having the ability to create runes, frees the Angel, but not before she and Jace were shown some memories of Valentine's experimentation on both of his children. Jace believing that in his veins ran demon blood was inconsolable. Meanwhile, in Idris, Sebastian had broken the wards thus allowing Valentine's army of demons to enter and destroy everything. A great battle began, and while breaking Simon out of Clave prison Jace was informed about Sebastian's betrayal and murder of his little brother Max. Burning with anger and self-hatred because of all the events, Jace decided to track down both Sebastian and Valentine but not before deciding to spend his possible last night with Clary, finally declaring his love for her and sleeping beside her. After following the tracking spell Jace found a cave outside Idris where Valentine and Sebastian discussed their plan to summon Raziel and destroy the all Downwolders and the Shadowhunters who would not bend their knee. Then Valentine left, and Sebastian having already sensed Jace's presence started to tease him. After a while they both fought each other with Sebastian revealing his true identity as Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern and informing Jace that he was the son of Stephen Herondale, Jace started to lose ground but Isabelle found them and assisted him. However, she was badly injured by Jonathan and Jace finding an opening killed him. Later on, he found Valentine, who was ready to summon the Raziel and had silenced Clary with a Rune. Valentine looked shocked when Jace told him that he killed Jonathan but other than that he didn't show any other emotion and before Jace could finish him off, Valentine stabbed him. Clary, upon witnessing all this, changed the ritual Runes, leading to Raziel answering to her and not Valentine. Raziel, knowing Valentine's motives, killed him and resurrected Jace by Clary's request. After the battle, Jace mourned Valentine's death. Afterwards, everyone celebrated their victory against Valentine's forces in what eventually became known as the Mortal War. Jace and Clary reformed their relationship, free to be together after all. Haunted By Lilith One month had passed since the events of the Mortal War. Jace was now training Clary and the two enjoyed their relationship. However he began to see some nightmares which always ended with him murdering Clary. Jace fearing that he was losing control, decided to distance himself from Clary. He spent most of his time protecting Simon and avoiding Clary. Clary growing more and more frustrated with this whole situation took a lot of risks. After a while Jace no longer being able to bury his emotions told Clary about his nightmares. Hoping to find a way to stop these nightmares, they visited the Silent Brothers, who informed them that with Jace's death the magic from the ritual which protected him from demon possession had faded and kept Jace in the Silent City in order to perform it again. However, during the night, Jace dreamt of his lost brother, Max. Max gave him a knife, telling him to cut himself in order to be released from the demon's possession. Jace woke up under Lilith's influence. He left the Silent City and went to Jocelyn's engagement party. There, under Lilith's influence, he marked Clary with a rune that made her lose her senses and carried her to the top of an unfinished hotel, where Lilith was preparing a resurrection ritual for Jonathan. Eventually, Clary, Simon and Jace defeated Lilith. However, when Jace was left alone in the top of the hotel, he unconsciously completed the ritual and awakened Sebastian. Sebastian, through Lilith's rune, had since gained some form of control and power over Jace. Bound to Sebastian Jace's state and whereabouts were unknown for weeks after he disappeared with Sebastian, worrying his family and friends. Moreover, the Clave's priorities shifted from locating Sebastian and Jace to safeguarding the wards, due to the increased number of demons which passed through them. Meanwhile, Jace and Sebastian were traveling all over the world preparing for Sebastian's plan. Jace, unable to stay away from Clary, visited her and asked her to follow them. Clary was considering the offer but their meeting was cut short when Jocelyn saw Sebastian in her kitchen and screamed. Their little adventure ended with Sebastian throwing a silver dagger to Luke and leaving with Jace. Jace's allegiance to Sebastian was confirmed. After their departure from Luke's house, Jace and Sebastian kept working on their plans for a little while longer, until Clary joined them. Clary tried to understand the connection between her brother and boyfriend but she couldn't find a way to help Jace, not without raising suspicions. Jace, still under Lilith's spell, participated in all of Sebastian's plans and at the same time dated Clary. He was the happiest Clary had ever seen him. However, after an unfortunate turn of events, his bond with Sebastian was severed and he was able to say the truth to Clary, about the Infernal Cup and Sebastian's true intentions, after which he unsuccessfully tried to flee to the Clave in order to turn in the Cup. Once on the Seventh Sacred Site, Sebastian, with Jace and Clary by his side, was already preparing to create his own army of Endarkened, when the Clave barged in, along with Simon holding the Glorious. Which he passed to Clary. Unable to reach Sebastian, Clary used the Glorious and stabbed Jace, believing that it wouldn't kill him as his heart was more good than evil. Jace was set alight severing the connection between the two, leading the others to believe that he was dead, and Sebastian was long gone with his army. However, his heart was still beating and he was taken into the Institute to be cured by Brother Zachariah. When Clary was finally allowed to visit Jace, he told her that stabbing him with Glorious had filled him with "sacred fire," which would burn anything he touched whenever he got an adrenaline rush, which was what Silent Brothers had told him. The Dark War Jordan Kyle started teaching Jace to meditate in order to be able to control the heavenly fire. Clary, Alec, Isabelle and Simon couldn't do anything else other than provide moral support. Concerned about Alec and Magnus break up, Jace visited Magnus and talk to him. Jace bluntly pointed out that he was obviously unhappy, since his apartment was a mess and he had takeout containers everywhere, clearly gorging himself on take out food. Due to the several attacks on different Institutes by the Sebastian's Endarkened army, They were all ordered to pack up and gather in Idris for an emergency meeting of the Clave. On that meeting Jace first met the Blackthorn children and Emma Carstairs. By the end of the meeting, the Clave decided to use the heavenly fire within Jace to defeat Sebastian, although they did not know how to get the fire out of him. Jace and Clary took a nighttime walk around the city. The two ultimately ended up in an alley, where, despite Jace's hesitation, Clary succeeded in kissing him. Their kissing escalated so quickly that Jace lost control over the heavenly fire, which caused him to burn his handprints into the brick wall he was leaning against. He felt so panicked and fearful that he hurt Clary that he quickly pulled away. The next day, when Jace and Clary went to buy her a new sword, Diana Wrayburn gave Clary a Morgenstern family shortsword, Heosphoros, for free. While Clary blessed her sword in Accords Hall fountain, they saw the demon towers lit up in a color of upcoming battle. Despite not being allowed, the two went through a Portal and joined the battle for Adamant Citadel. Jace fought Sebastian, who then stabbed Jace. Surprised by heavenly fire, Sebastian and his army fled the battle. Brother Zachariah attempted to heal Jace, but was burned. Clary marked Jace with an iratze powerful enough to somehow heal him. Sebastian held the Downworld leaders, along with Jocelyn, in hostage, and demanded Clary and Jace in return. He gave the Clave two day to decide. Hinted by Emma that Sebastian kept prisoners in the other dimension, Edom, Jace, Clary, Simon, Alec and Isabelle escaped to rescue them through faerie tunnels. Once on the other dimension, Clary transferred heavenly fire from Jace to Heosphoros, with which she eventually stabbed Sebastian by tricking him and the others. Cold Peace In 2008, Jace was invited to the Shadowhunter Academy, where they sent Simon in hopes of helping him regain his memories through Ascension, to teach a lesson as a guest tutor. There, he met and conversed with his ancestor Tessa Gray. Jace has since become more serious about his passion for music. He'd begun to play more challenging pieces and composing, even collaborating once with fellow musician, Simon, on "Come Back, Meow", a song dedicated to Chairman Meow. Around a year later, Maryse stepped down as head of the Institute, and Jace and Clary were voted in by the Conclave as the new heads, making them one of the youngest Shadowhunters to ever hold the position. In the midst of Isabelle and Simon's engagement party in 2012, Jace proposed to Clary. Her answer was interrupted by Magnus and Robert as the pair were pulled off to the Los Angeles Institute for a mission. A few weeks later, Jace returned to the L.A Institute with Clary to pass on what was discussed in a recent Council meeting. While there, Jace met and spoke with Kit Herondale and convinced him to put off running away until he had experienced Shadowhunter life. Following a meeting with the residents of the Institute, Jace and Clary pulled Mark aside to question him about Faerie, and revealed that they were being sent on a mission there to investigate an unknown weapon left by Sebastian. Becoming a Father Jace married Clary a few years before the twins were born. In June 2012, it was revealed that Clary was pregnant, and in March 2013, she gave birth to twins named Emmaline and Stephen Herondale. Jace and Clary went on to have nine more children, all of varying ages. Personality and Traits Jace had always been independent and somehow self-possessed, having been taught not to betray himself to emotions as a child. Jace has a sharp, defensive wit, an acidic temperament which was later only tamed by Clary, and a very sarcastic attitude when he chooses in order to hide his insecurities. Giving the impression of holding most people in disdain, Jace is seen as extremely arrogant, self-centered, and overconfident, believing himself to be "the best Shadowhunter to ever live" and above others. True enough, Jace is superior in battle, something Jace has been training for since he was young and had grown to love over the years. He even exhibits sadistic tendencies, which he got on account of being raised by Valentine. Despite this, Jace, in fact, has a strong moral core. He is dutiful and just, willing to make the right decisions, and sacrifices if it comes down to it. Though he can be, at times, vindictive, he is cruel only to protect those he loves. His conceited exterior hides a profound inner hatred which intensifies after he mistakenly believed he was demonic, blaming the demon blood for his conflicting thoughts and his, then presumed, incestuous feelings towards Clary. Even after this was disproved and contradicted by the fact that he actually is actually part angel, even more so than regular people of his kind, Jace continued to carry the weight of the lies he had lived for so long. An example of this is Jace's love for the man who raised him and whom he believed to be his father, Valentine; despite the abuse and the deceit, Valentine was at times kind and affectionate towards him, and Jace found himself missing his father figure. Like Valentine and the Lightwoods, Jace also shared the snobbish attitude toward mundanes and Downworlders, though he lacked their extremist tendencies. Beneath Jace's flippant exterior lies a soul in constant torment, filled with a deep-seated rage that he keeps in check most of the time and channels into fighting and slaying demons and also, sometimes, his sarcastic and nasty remarks. Jace relaxes and calms his nerves by getting into fights, with Clary even noting that fighting to Jace is "what sex is to normal people." Aware of his own beauty, Jace was also once quite chivalrous, and quite flirty, towards women before he met Clary. His charisma, good looks, and charm have made him quite the ladies' man. However, taught that "to love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be destroyed." at an early age, Jace kept everyone, except the Lightwoods, at arm's length, never forming emotional attachments for more than a brief amount of time, if at all. His personality drastically changed after he met Clary, with Isabelle even stating that Jace was apathetic about everyone else beforehand, not caring about anyone other than the Lightwoods until he met Clary, whose presence shook Jace, who was revealed to be a very passionate individual, loving Clary on a very deep and passionate level when he fell in love with her and does everything in his power to protect her from harm, the extent of his love for Clary even surprising those close to him. Physical Description Jace is very well-known for his good looks. He has curly blond hair, that he sometimes lets grow a little longer, long eyelashes, and amber eyes that look gold in the light due to his angel blood. He has a lean, slim muscular build, broad shoulders, and stands over 5'11". One of Jace's upper incisors has a slight chip. He is said to look like his biological father, Stephen, except around the eyes where he looks like his mother, Céline. Like all other Shadowhunters, he is covered in runes, both the newly-applied or permanent black ones, and the faded silver runes that are to be reapplied. He has a star-shaped birthmark, a mark that has been passed on down through the generations of Herondales, starting from Will Herondale, on his left shoulder. Trivia * Jace is left-handed, and he can play the piano. This is something that he taught his older daughter, Emmy. * He can speak Romanian, Latin, Italian, French, and apparently more languages. * He loves Chinese food. * He hates cucumber, as well as Earl Grey tea. * He is extremely well-read and can quote whole literary passages. * Jace, like his male ancestors Edmund and Will Herondale, hates ducks for some reason. This is something that he passes down onto his kids. * Jace keeps Lightwood as a middle name.